'Extraordinary Ride'

Slept late – really late, until about 2pm – waking up to renewed excitement of going home. A great stack of email had appeared to and from our entourage with thanks, goodbyes, airport departure times, lost bag sightings and the attempted off-loading of accumulated tour junk. After three weeks in this hotel room I was pretty bedded-in but my having arranged an evening flight meant that I could ignore it until this morning and still have time to sort it all out pre-departure (this isn’t my first rodeo).

New York was sunny and warm so I promised to leave myself time for a stroll into Central Park which, miraculously, I managed to do. The park was full of Sunday afternoon post-brunch activity, with walkers, sunbathers, cyclists, joggers, horse and trap riders. It was just the gentle activity I needed and gave me a little quiet time begin the come-down process. Rock tours don’t end gradually, they keep going at full tilt until smacking into the brick wall of the final show, when this great ball of kinetic energy fragments and scatters quite literally all over the world. With this having been such an exceptional tour in all aspects, I sense that the come down will be tough for some, but I feel like I have been pacing myself for the past month (since Glastonbury, really) and gradually letting go of this overwhelmingly intense project that has occupied much of the past five years of my life.

Sad at all? Not really. I’m immensely proud of the achievement and of everybody who’s been part of it. We know that this will be the proverbial ‘milestone in rock history’; over seven million people (that’s 0.1% of the world’s population) came to see the show and we’re already thinking about what comes next, so there’s nothing to be sad about.

I do need to run away and hide for a while though and happily I am free to do just that. I’ve been away for such a long time that everybody I know assumes I’m dead, so I can now reintegrate with society at a suitably gentle pace.

What an extraordinary ride and what an astonishing thing this 'U2360' turned out to be. I’ve loved it. Just loved it.

Thanks guys for giving so much back.....You guys should be illegal, you are like a drug and im hooked...

voodooloons

26 August, 2011

Thanks for the most amazing musical expe

After years of near misses, I finally took my wife to her first U2 show in Dublin on July 25, 2009.... then we took our whole family to Pittsburgh on July 26, 2011... and I also took our 13 y/o son to the Raleigh show (he\'s an amazing young guitarist, and had his mind blown by having both Edge, his hero, and Larry wish him happy birthday that day). I am also a musician, and have to say that I was completely blown away by every aspect of this tour. The band obviously taps into an emotional power that few others do... but without what you, Willie, and the others have assembled on this tour it never would have had near the magnitude. The visuals were stunning, and the sound system was by far the best I have ever heard in a larger venue. In Pitt and Raleigh were were on the outer rail, and I couldn\'t believe how perfect the sound was with subwoofers feet in front of me, the mains directly above... volume loud enough to rattle my ribs, yet perfectly balanced mids and highs as well. Most probably don\'t realize what a trick that is in such a venue.... you guys have no doubt put the very best rig and production together that the world has ever seen..... yet w/out seeming over the top... everything done amazingly tastefully.
You\'re all my heroes. Best of the best, without a doubt. Congrats!

lamspa

23 August, 2011

To Willie

It was a pleasure seeing this tour through your eyes. Thanks for making it available to all...

NickyK

22 August, 2011

Thanks Willie!

Thanks for a great tour & thanks for the inside information you share with your diary! I always loved reading your entries; they are funny & insightful... I\'ll miss your diary and I already miss U2 360! ;) I saw 8 shows, but it\'s never enough.
Enjoy your free time! But I hope it won\'t take too long until you are on the road with U2 again ;)

RVER

16 August, 2011

Rver

You have to love these guys they are simply the
best of the modern times. My entire family are simply devoted to U2 all the time. We will wait to the day they come back to us.

NickyK

16 August, 2011

Thanks Willie!

Thanks for a great tour & thanks for the inside information you share with your diary! I always loved reading your entries; they are funny & insightful... I\'ll miss your diary and I already miss U2 360! ;) I saw 8 shows, but it\'s never enough.
Enjoy your free time! But I hope it won\'t take too long until you are on the road with U2 again ;)

Yogic

11 August, 2011

7 Million Hugs : ).

I Love U2

moon8888

09 August, 2011

Well done Willie!

It was a brilliant tour!

spingola

08 August, 2011

Lit from flame every night for years . .

Between you and the lamp post; this is just the very begening of experience shared. Looking forward to the future. I think you are too. What talks people so long to understand that we can be One?

cmh40

08 August, 2011

Thanks and nastravia

thanks for a great show in pittsburgh. i was worried because u mentioned u were winding down. but u and the boys put on a GREAT show. little choppy but boy did they ride that wave. the effects and lighting was spot on. ur a genius.

Isabella

07 August, 2011

Thanks Willie

I will so miss your diary Willie. Your perspective on the tour and your insatiable curiosity about the world make for fantastic armchair travel. I will miss you and the characters you have a introduced us to. And I must thank you for Zooropa, one of my all time faves. The arrangement, the visual, the whole thing was just gorgeous perfection. Wishing you happiness and continued creativity.

Jara

07 August, 2011

...

I just loved it too! Thank you!

FrannyK

06 August, 2011

Mahalo!

Oakland was truly a breath-taker looking up into the dance of lights! Never got to shake your hand, but that was the next best thing. Mahalo for the memories!!!

jaspergorissen

06 August, 2011

thanks

Thanks Willie for a great show and for your writing!
see you next tour

Germana

06 August, 2011

Thank you

Thanks for the laughs and the insights, Willie!
Hope you can get some very well deserved rest now, and on to the next dream...

bkgarceau

05 August, 2011

Thanks!

Great hearing about the tour via your constant post. Much excitement has been had read and reliving the concerts. Thanks again for taking time to give us insight into this 360 world!

gafel

05 August, 2011

gafel

Thanks a lot, Willie!

greydogblues

05 August, 2011

not enough words

to describe how much your insight, wit, charm, frankness, hard work, vision... has meant to so so many. grazie mille.

beckosteen

05 August, 2011

Please write a book!

Your diary is smart, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable. You brought joy to 7 million people and we will miss you terribly!

bobczx2

05 August, 2011

Thanks Wilile

What an amazing job you and the crew did over the last 5 years. I hope you pop in from time to time. With the Anniversary of Achtung Baby coming out, perhaps you can share stories with us we never heard before. Enjoy your well deserved hide from the world.

Jackyr

04 August, 2011

Thank you Willie

I am sad the tour is over and part of that is because I will miss reading your diary! You gave us all glimpse into tour life with a great perspective that made me laugh out loud many times. You should be very proud of everything you helped achieve with incredible tour. It was monumental. Best of luck and we hope to see you back here soon!

fanoftheedgeu2

04 August, 2011

Keep Writing?

I will miss following U2 so close - yet so far away...
My son saw U2 for the first time in TO when he was 9, and again at 11 (in TO AND Moncton - we are making him a U2TOURIE young!). My Daughter was 9 her first show in Moncton...
Their concept of what a concert should be is such a high bar, that they are RUINED for life!

jmbmasci

04 August, 2011

True Elevation!

Thank you Willie for your hard work and creativity, We saw 4 shows in July...it was the summer of our dreams. We will never forget it!

Galovics

04 August, 2011

True Joy in your work

I came here two years ago looking for some insight into what the tour would be like and found myself hungry to see it in person. I did that, it was a defining moment in my life and I will remember it always. The best thing is that I feel your diary entries gave me some perspective on what it truly takes to put on a show like this and how much dedication this team has to make it great. Thank You for having obvious joy in making your work meaningful and representative of the best that one can do. It was Magnificent.

Chief

04 August, 2011

Thanks Willie!!

Willie thanks for taking the time to write your diary. I enjoyed it very much. I was at the Toronto show and it was my son who Bono pulled up on stage! Memories for life!
Enjoy your time away....you certainly deserve it!

onlyU2

04 August, 2011

You should write a book!

you Should!
I absolutley loved reading you dairies, it gave me, and many others, a great look at the other side of the "fence". You made me laugh and sometimes made me cry ( actualy this last post did), but most of the time you let us see the inside of this amazing tour and wonderfull band, and let us be a litle part of it! Thank you for your diaries, for the time you took to write them. And ofcourse the biggest Thank you is for the whole 360 Tour idea! I had a great 2 years under the Claw, I saw it from almost every angle, it was simply AMAZING! Thank you!

hicksong

04 August, 2011

Next.......

Thank you Willie for being.......Lets go in the round......indoors......smack in the middle of the floor...........the MIDDLE of the FLOOR..........Achtung Baby !!!!!!!!..........hicksong

Within the bands entourage (certainly by comparison to the crews clockwork scheduling) travel departure times are often a little loose. This morning was especially so, due to three contradictory memos which had been emailed out last night and this morning.

There was a 6.30pm conference call arranged between Bono (Dublin), The Edge (Los Angeles), Steve Matthews (London) and myself (also London) to blow the cobwebs off our brains and discuss the reincarnation of the Vertigo Tour.

I was planning on resurrecting the tour diary today, being the day we were scheduled to fly to Auckland for the load-in tomorrow. However, its now old news that the remainder of the tour dates have been postponed, so Im not going anywhere further than the corner cafe. Its been a very weird week indeed - much akin to driving into a wall.